page_title: Winterthur
section_title: Music
hierarchical_section_title: Winterthur / Culture / Music
caption_attribution_description: Die Stadtkirche Winterthur (Schweiz) von Nordosten gesehen.
context_page_description: Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zürich in northern Switzerland. With over 110,000 residents it is the country's sixth-largest city by population, and is the ninth-largest agglomeration with about 140,000 inhabitants. Located about 20 kilometres northeast of Zürich, Winterthur is a service and high-tech industrial satellite city within Greater Zürich.
  The official language of Winterthur is Swiss Standard German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Winterthur is usually abbreviated as Winti in the local dialect and by its inhabitants.
  Winterthur is connected to Germany by direct trains and has links to Zurich Airport. It is also a regional transport hub: the A1 motorway from Geneva through to St. Margrethen connects in Winterthur with the A4 motorway heading north toward Schaffhausen and the A7 motorway heading close to the Swiss-German border at Kreuzlingen. There are also roads leading to other places such as Turbenthal. The railway station is the fifth busiest railway station in Switzerland, and is 20 minutes away by train from Zürich.
context_section_description: Winterthur's chamber orchestra Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur is the oldest orchestra in Switzerland, and also plays at the Zurich Opera. Between 1922 and 1950, the philanthropist Werner Reinhart and the conductor Hermann Scherchen played a leading role in shaping the musical life of Winterthur, with numerous premiere performances emphasizing contemporary music.
  The city hall Stadthaus, in which the concerts of the Musikkollegium take place, was built by Gottfried Semper.
  Musikfestwochen, in late August and early September, sees Winterthur's Old Town taken over for live music of all kinds, in the street and bars as well as in concert venues.
  The "Albanifest", the largest annual festival in a historic town in Switzerland, is named after Saint Alban, one of the city's four saints, is held here, over three days in late June every year. Although a recent creation, the festival celebrates the granting of a charter to the town in 1264 by Rudolf of Habsburg on 22 June of that year, which happened to be the saint's day.
  The church of St. Laurenz in the city centre dates from 1264, the town hall was built in 1781, the assembly hall in 1865.
  In 1989, Winterthur received the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.
  The Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie was formed in Winterthur and the Punkabilly band The Peacocks comes from here.
caption: The city church of Winterthur, a local landmark
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